An illustration of Muslim worshippers pray at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on June 23, 2017, during the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. (AFP/Bandar Aldandani)

One of its recent innovations was branding buses that carry Indonesian hajj pilgrims with the Wonderful Indonesia brand. “We put promotional pictures of tourism in Indonesia on the buses that service Indonesian hajj pilgrims from Madina and Mecca. These buses, in general, have become a promotional tool for the country’s trade, investment and tourism sectors,” said Indonesian consul general in Jeddah Muh. Hery Saripudin.

The branding will be launched on the first batch of busses that will arrive on July 28. This promotion is hoped to educate Muslims across the world that Indonesia is just about luxury and high-quality products, it’s also a safe country that is always open for investment and has plenty of tourist destinations.

Saripudin then went on to talk about other commodities that are also being promoted such as essential oils, rubber, jewelries, the fishing industry, furniture, palm oil, processed food, spices and coffee.

According to the data from the trade ministry, the total trade between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in January – April 2017 period reached up to US$1.515 billion, a 22.65 percent increase from the same period last year which only managed to garner $1.235 billion. The total of oil and gas trade in January – April 2017 was $731.6 million, an increase of 40.01 percent from the same period last year that only amounted to $522.8 million. For the non-oil and gas sector, the number was up 9.93 percent from $713.331 millions in January – April 2016 to $784,17 in 2017.

As for the total of non-oil and gas export from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, from January to April the number was $532.59 million, up 13.76 percent from the same period last year with $468.153 million. Indonesia however only contributes 4.46 percent to the overall import trade in Saudi Arabia in April 2017. (asw)